Shabangu says he is drawn to landscape painting because it allows him to tell multiple stories in a single work. The stories he tells range from the autobiographical to things that affect humanity. There is freedom in the artform, and the artist can ask many questions. Another form of inspiration for him desiring to depict places, particularly Johannesburg, is his late father who was a construction worker. On trips to the city, his father would point to all the buildings he had helped construct. What bothers Shabangu is that when he retired after serving for several years, his father did not own a home in the city. His rural home was nowhere near as beautiful and secure as the facilities he had toiled on for all his working years in the city. It is heart-breaking. In art, the son has found a way to tell these stories.

-  Barnabas Ticha Muvhuti 

In this piece, you will notice that I have turned the crowns into iconic structures on each figure’s head. These structures represent the White House and world parliaments around the world. I am also happy that the work itself led me into global conversations that affect each and every one of us. This is something I have been opening up to over the past five years as an independent artist, to reach other audiences abroad.

- Senzo Shabangu

Mmutle Arthur Kgokong intrerviews artist Senzo Njabulo Shabangu  to tease-out the message inherent in this new piece ‘In Dedication’. This work is part of a new body of work the artist has just finished working on. The artist openly discusses the conceptual origins that provided the inspirational framework upon which ‘In Dedication’ is based.     

" I saw the work in a dream while I was visiting my in-laws in the Free State during the last festive season. It was as if I was talking to my late Mom. She said I must engrave on a stone and as she showed me this vision I saw young people being crowned. They were standing besides high pillars. Immediately when I woke up I asked my wife, Keke, to pose for me. She is the figure on the left. When we got back home from our visit in the Free State, I decided to start working on the piece, immediately.

I had to find more youthful faces, especial those of people I admire. As I was working, President Barack Obama came to my mind as well as Bobo Ndima, the fashion designer, whose career I have been fortunate enough to follow. The list goes on of the people I wanted to capture. On the heads of the figures, I have placed floating crowns that I saw in my dream. I have captured them as if they are falling from the sky. Some of the people I saw in my dream were wearing robes or gowns."

I did this work during lockdown at a time when people couldn’t go to galleries. It affected us big time because we had to rely on social media and the internet and yet, in some ways, art is not made for that. You have to see it live. The galleries come with stories that things are not going well. Sales are down for most artists, because people can’t gather and collectors are holding back.

The lockdown brought depression to a lot of people, so you had to be strong in your faith, while isolating from people. If your walls are not entertaining you, you have to go somewhere else to be entertained. I felt like the collectors are the blessed ones because they have something to look at while in isolation, be it a sculpture or a collection of works. 

For this work, I drew inspiration from the story of Noah’s ark. In the piece, the floods are taking over the world’s buildings. I depict some monumental buildings from around the world, including the White House. There is a bird at the top of the small artwork being looked at by the figure dominating the larger one. In Noah’s story, when the floods were almost over, he sent out a dove and after seven days it brought back an olive branch — a sign that the storm was almost over and that land would appear soon. That’s me trying to be positive; to say we’re not the first ones to tread water or to be in a situation like this. The storm will be over if we look from the past into the future. 

The human figure in the painting might be interested in buying an artwork to collect, but he might be checking his pockets as well. It’s a difficult time — everybody is thinking twice because we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. 

 I used charcoal because my background is printmaking. Recently, I’ve been revisiting the original way I used to work, which was to draw first before making the print. The piece is a huge charcoal drawing on paper, about 200cm by 100cm. I also use acrylic and a bit of water colour. In the artwork the man is looking at, I use watercolours to make it lighter than the rest of the background. My mother used to buy me a lot of watercolours when I was young, so it  was nice to revisit that. 

Most people who have been seeing my prints think that I’m only a printmaker, forgetting that it all starts with a sketch. 

Printmaking is sort of like an addiction, in the sense that when we become artists, there is a push to produce what people like. I felt really overwhelmed when I was producing only prints and had a sense that I would become scared of colour; hence this work, which is not editioned.                

This body of work narrates the story of an African child as they migrate from a different part of the world for better education. They leave their loved ones to settle for a certain duration in universities or other institutions, sometimes far away from home.

The work is based on the students’s faith, morals, mother tongues and true teachings they have received. I arrived here on Good Friday and thought I should begin the work from the bible perspective of Israelites as they commenced their journey, carrying an ark of the covenant. The significance of this is to remind us that we are not the first ones to look for the promised land, and to face obstacles on our journey. I believe the presence of black people in our part of the world did not begin with the biblical journey, but we were always here.

I am aware that the African child must overcome insurmountable challenges to keep focused on their studies and to be recognized as part of the world among other children from different backgrounds. To adjust to a new style and to fit among peers sometimes entails forgetting our own beliefs and morals. In the world we live in, one can look foolish when they come into the modern world with beliefs or morals that can seem strange or backward to others, especially if what they believe is good alienates them.

I am a firm believer that at childhood our parents give us the truth. They feed us the wisdom to become better than them, and to not repeat their mistakes. But as we grow older, we break from their chains and sometimes even think all their teachings are nonsense. Yet our pasts haunt us as we become older. We choose what is good for us and we become better humans.

This body of work is a reminder of an African child's responsibility. As we transform and make inroads into the academic world, or any other world for that matter, the responsibilities ahead become even much bigger. We still must work more compared to the European child because we are the children of the soil.

I chose to reference graduates carrying the ark, walking together to the imaginary promised land, the greener pastures lying ahead for us all, but also a reminder that what we carry needs faith, strong beliefs, and morals combined with the education we got where we come from. We got it from our loved one as they gave us our first starts and they engraved strong love in our hearts. Its either we come back empowered or better and strong enough to swim with sharks in the corporate sea. We would need to be strong and to know who we are to survive and cope in the corporate environment.

The body of work pushes me to honour all the African children who migrated from different parts of the continent and are in other parts of the world. I will honour them with their respective countries’ iconic landmarks and historical buildings. I have done city scape and used the Joburg Towers in the past. In this body of work, I will be traveling through the continent in my mind. I will cover major cities and nations like the Goree Slave Island in Senegal, Ethiopia, the Cape to Cairo stretch, etc, in honour of the African child who goes out to battle like a soldier. They carry the ark. They understand their responsibilities.

The work is a letter send to their loved ones to say "Aluta Continua!" They are fine. They will come back home stronger. They will go out and conquer the world.

Because the work is created here in Makhanda (former Grahamstown), I will stamp the work with the donkey which is everywhere on the town’s street

Most of my work begins with words, titles, conversations, dreams and socio-political issues. Every time I get goosebumps I draw the vision down on my sketch pad then I’ll draw it on a bigger paper or on canvas later. As a printmaker, I sometimes push the idea to prints or even sculptures. Most of the time, the ideas come at 3 AM in the morning. I also make sure that I focus on how I received the message or see the vision without focusing on getting the reference to try to portray the artwork in a ‘nice way’ or to impress the viewer.

- Senzo Shanbagu interview with  in  10and5 by Unam Ntsababa 

As artists, we live on Earth and we are not aliens. We can’t be isolated from the community and our daily lives and issues. I believe we have the power to change the landscape and the view of things. We also play a huge part in documenting our history, especially as black artists. - Senzo Shabangu

Q&A is an opportunity to connect with the artists and their work in a manner that is more personalized and meaningful for YOU. This is an opportunity for you to ask Shabangu about his work, his practice, what motivates him and more. The aim is to educate or gain a new perspective through open discourse.

On the 15 December 2021, 18h00 GMT all the questions will be put forth to Senzo and Barnabas Tich Muvhuti will go through most of the questions depending on time. This will be plat formed on Instagram and as a recording  in the viewing room. In order for you to review and listen to his answers in case you were unable to join for the live session.

For more on Q&A contact curator@themelrosegallery.com

Barnabas Ticha Muvhuti is a PhD student in Art History at Rhodes University with the NRF/DST SARChI Chair Geopolitics and the Arts of Africa, Arts of Africa and Global Souths research programme. His research focuses on the neglected or forgotten black modern art teachers in Zimbabwe. He is also interested in the work of Zimbabwe-born contemporary artists.  

Ticha has a Master of Philosophy in Ancient Cultures from Stellenbosch University, a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Curatorship Studies from the University of Cape Town, and a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Archaeology from Midlands State University. He has worked as a gallery assistant at the AVA Gallery in Cape Town, and as a research assistant and project manager at the Centre for Curating the Archive (UCT), where he was involved in several projects. He is also part of the Refugees In Towns research team at Tufts University.

The Instagram live will take place on  Wednesday, 15 December 2021 at 18h00 GMT on @themelrosegallerysa page. For more infomation regarding this contact mandisa@themelrosegallery.com

Click here and  follow us on instgram to remain up to date